Denver Pyle

Denver Pyle
Pyle in 1962
Born
Denver Dell Pyle

(1920-05-11)May 11, 1920
DiedDecember 25, 1997(1997-12-25) (aged 77)
Resting placeForreston Cemetery, Forreston, Texas
Occupations
  • Actor
  • director
Years active1947–1997
Known forUncle Jesse in The Dukes of Hazzard
Spouses
Marilee Carpenter
(m. 1955; div. 1970)
Tippie Johnston
(m. 1983)
Children2

Denver Dell Pyle (May 11, 1920 – December 25, 1997)[1][2] was an American film and television actor and director. He was well known for a number of TV roles from the 1960s through the 1980s, including his portrayal of Briscoe Darling in several episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, as Jesse Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard from 1979 to 1985, as Mad Jack in the NBC television series The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, and as the titular character's father, Buck Webb, in CBS's The Doris Day Show. In many of his roles, he portrayed either authority figures, or gruff, demanding father figures, often as comic relief. Perhaps his most memorable film role was that of Texas Ranger Frank Hamer in the movie Bonnie and Clyde (1967), as the lawman who relentlessly chased down and finally killed the notorious duo in an ambush.

  1. ^ "Social Security Death Index". New England Historic Genealogical Society. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
  2. ^ "Obituary: Denver Pyle". Independent.co.uk. October 22, 2011.